The public-private Export Development Council (EDC) is pushing for the establishment of a Philippine regulatory body that will ensure shipping lines charge fair prices, as the export sector continues to incur higher costs due to port congestion.
In a resolution, the EDC Executive Committee said the body will be tasked with ensuring that shipping lines do not demand exorbitant surcharges and other related fees from importers and exporters.
It noted that exporters are unduly charged with container demurrage, storage and port congestion fees, among others, leading to an increase in costs ranging from $100 to $500.
At the same time, trucking costs have “increased by at least 100 percent to more than 300 percent without proper consultations with the stakeholders,” the committee said.
It added that the creation of a regulatory body will also obligate shipping lines to have their own container yards.
The resolution also recommended to shipping lines that they allow return of empty containers within two weeks; be responsible for the return of their empty containers from their customers’ yard; and reduce the period of overstaying containers in the port from 180 days to 30 days to avoid using the port as a container yard.
Apart from incurring increase in costs, the committee said exporters are still experiencing delays in shipments for up to a month which translates to delays in production and delivery, lower productivity and loss in revenue and employment, all despite some progress in decongesting the ports.
It estimated that up to 5,000 workers had either been laid off or forced to stop working for a period of time.
The resolution also proposed that all port-related services such as government agencies responsible for clearances, banks around the port, as well as the importers and exporters operate seven days a week.
Establishing a port watch task force that will monitor the daily situation in the ports is also imperative, it said.
“Expand the capacity of the Batangas and Subic ports and recommend that further expansion of ports should be made in Batangas and Subic, other than in Manila,” the committee added. – Philexport News and Features
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